Only 8, he signs autographs for kids twice his age. He offers tips to friends with double his experience.

And when he’s not doing good by others, Fullerton scooter rider Brig Beck is shredding your local skate park.

“He’s usually the littlest guy out there,” said his father, John. “But he’s out there doing some of, if not the biggest tricks in the park.”

Scooter rider Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton poses at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck competes at both local and national scooter competitions. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton is finding success in scootering by competing in local and national tournaments on Thursday, June 15, 2017. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton gets air on his scooter at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck has found success at scooter competitions around the state and country. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Brig Beck, 8, a scooter rider from Fullerton poses at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck has found success at scooter competitions around the state and country. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton, sports a sticker with his Instagram username at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. The sponsored scooter rider has gained fans through Instagram and YouTube.(Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Scooter rider Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton poses at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck competes at both local and national scooter competitions. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Scooter rider Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton poses at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck competes at both local and national scooter competitions. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Brig Beck, 8, of Fullerton gets air on his scooter at the Brea Skatepark on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Beck has found success at scooter competitions around the state and country. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fullerton scooter rider Brig Beck, 8, started riding young. He now is known for throwing big air. (Courtesy of Beck Family)

He studies and gets good grades. Teachers love him. He’s shy around strangers, but has an expansive network of friends who ride. The boy doesn’t brag, and likely wouldn’t be all that good at it if he tried.

Brig just wants to scoot.

“I’m just having a good time, meeting new people,” he said.

***Born to shred

The Becks – John and Kim – scratch their heads at their son’s fame.

“Brig’s a young guy, but he gets talked about in the industry,” John Beck said. “People know who he is.”

John Beck was an adrenaline junkie growing up; the skateboarder in pursuit of big air, the snowboarder melting ice, the bodyboarder cutting waves in two.

Fifteen years ago, he bought a scooter to ride around the beach.

His wife later fished it out of the garage and gave it to Brig.

Now, Kim Beck’s hands sweat every time he hops on.

“I always want to wrap him in bubble wrap,” she said. “But he has such passion for riding, how can I stop him from doing it?”

Brig started small.

Modest jumps, here. Little air, there. A simple trick or two.

Child’s play.

“He had a talent” for riding, said John Beck, who got to work building a half pipe in his back yard. “He was a natural. He flowed. It was really easy for him from Day 1. We could see it, so we encouraged it.

“And it was almost instantaneous that he wanted to ride every day.”

At skate parks around Southern California, Brig found his niche.

He’d lose mornings watching YouTube videos of young riders, and afternoons replicating their tricks. No tail whip or grind or barspin went unrehearsed.

In parks, older riders appreciated his verve, taking the boy under their wing. “He had a good group of kids around him that were willing to teach him,” John Beck said. “But also he had a desire to be a rider.”

On his 7th birthday, Brig won his first competition.

More trophies followed.

“We noticed him right away,” said Suzie Harris, owner of Bakerfield’s Ronka Underground Skate Park. “When we opened three years ago and Brig came in the door, his curly hair first got our attention, but then that he was the little guy out there riding the park.

“He was so focused and determined,” Harris continued. “The first time we saw him, we knew he was an up-and-comer.”

***Ambitions of a rider

Just north of four feet tall, Brig weighs 55 pounds.

In full scooter attire, the boy looks the part, down to his scarred knee pads and tattered shoes. Brig recently chipped some teeth in a fall, his father said, completing the ensemble.

Kim Beck says her son rides “pretty,” her word for smooth and meticulous.

“He analyzes everything,” John Beck said. “When he does a trick, he wants it to be a stylish trick.”

Occasionally, Brig said, nerves consume him. “When I’m trying a new trick and I’m tired, I get nervous and fall down sometimes and get hurt,” he said.

“That happens to me in competitions sometimes, too.”

At skate parks, Brig sheds his shell, his parents said.

Get him talking action sports, and he’s a pint-sized encyclopedia, rattling off names of riders, competitions they’ve won and tricks he has in his arsenal.

Harris, whose 19-year-old son also scoots, has seen teenagers light up when Brig sets foot in her park, if only because the boy will answer their riding questions.

“Our kids look at him and know he’s going to be a pro rider someday,” Harris said.

Brig is one of the sport’s youngest ambassadors.

He already has industry sponsors, and can be seen at local skate parks handing out their stickers and endorsing their products. Type his name into YouTube and find videos of his runs.

On his helmet company’s team of riders, Brig is by far the youngest –and the only amateur.

“It feels good” to be part of a new generation of daredevils, he said.

At an age most kids are finding their riding legs, Brig is dreaming big.

The goal is to become a professional scooter rider and shred skate parks in Australia and Barcelona.

“I want to help other kids learn new tricks,” he said.

Sooner or later, Brig is going to scare his parents to death and attempt a backflip in a skate park – where the pit of foam blocks he’s been falling into during trial runs can’t save him.

When that day comes, all eyes will be on the littlest rider throwing the biggest air.

“I have a grandson that’s 3 and has been on a scooter since he could walk,” Harris said. “He wants to shred our park and get big air, and Brig’s always taking time to ride with him. He loves that.

Brian Whitehead covers San Bernardino for The Sun. Bred in Grand Terrace, he graduated from Riverside Notre Dame High and Cal State Fullerton. For seven years, he covered high school and college sports for The Orange County Register. Before landing at The Sun, he was the city beat reporter for Buena Park, Fullerton and La Palma.

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